Edward Furlong: Melancholy Baby

Does he feel fame imposes unfair scrutiny? Take I'affaire Hugh Grant and the Sunset Boulevard hooker, for instance. "It's really none of my business to judge anything about Hugh Grant, but I think people made a bigger deal of it than it is. Drive down Sunset and you see so many guys grabbing hookers and you don't see them getting humiliated. When [newspapers and magazines] talk about me, it has nothing to do with my career, so I'm like, whatever. Fans are what matters. Fans I like. Those are the people that go to the movies, pay for the tickets and get me parts."

What about fans who go too far? I've heard Furlong has experienced such stuff. "If somebody sat down at our table in a restaurant, well, that would be rude," he explains. Then, putting on his sweetest, best-mannered voice, he continues: "I'd say to the person, 'You know what? We're eating and I don't know you and, well -- get the fuck outta here!'" Rapping our tabletop, Furlong confides, "I've gotta tell you this story. Jackie and I went to a small-town mall while we were shooting Before and After, and all of a sudden, like, 50 people showed up and rushed me. It was cool at first, then suddenly there were so many fucking people following us, it was, like, meet the fucking Beatles, So, anyway, this one dude came out of the crowd and kissed me on the cheek right here." Furlong traces on his cheek the precise spot on which the smitten lad planted one. "My first reaction was, like, punch the guy. I had to fight Jackie, because I just wanted to go ballistic. But I didn't and these two kids came up and said. 'Oh, man, don't worry, we'll go find that kid and beat the shit out of him.' It was weird and funny.

I really don't like it when someone-- guy or girl--invades my space." So, would he think of protecting himself by packing a piece? "No gun, no bodyguard, cause that would probably freak me out. It's really not that big yet, my fame. Hopefully it will be that big one day." What if someone were to make a threatening move toward Jackie? "I'd beat the shit out of them, that's all," Furlong snaps back, all 130 pounds of him. "That is, before Jackie beat the living shit out of them herself. See, when it's not the business, I live like a normal person. When we're at home, we invite over a couple of friends, just chill out and watch a laser disc. Or we just watch TV all night together. The rest of it is all just fake."

With whom does he chill? Someone told me that, although he and Leonardo DiCaprio are often up for the same roles, they've been seen partying together. Furlong rolls his eyes. "Oh, yeah, me and Leo go way back. Look, I have never clubbed with Leonardo DiCaprio. In fact, I guess I've never met any of the real Hollywood people. I definitely have to say that I hear that Leonardo DiCaprio is up for every freaking film that I am, but friends? Now, I'm not saying it's impossible for actors to be friends, 'cause, you know, anybody can be friends, but..."

"But," I say, only too happy to complete that sentence for him, "actors are too competitive to truly be pals?" He gives out a dubious look. "I am very, very competitive and ambitious," he says, with an edge of tempered steel. "I would definitely fight hard for a role I believed in. But I will never kiss anybody's ass. No way, man, I would say to Quentin Tarantino, 'Hey, man, pretty awesome,' but I wouldn't be like 'Hey, man, let me do one of your movies,' even if to do one of his movies would be totally trippy."

How did it come about that director Barbet Schroeder chose Furlong after checking out all the usual suspects when casting the all-important role of the mesmerizingly off kid in Before and After? "Barbet and I met two years ago in an office, and, at the time, he was seeing everybody." recalls Furlong. "It was the role, out of all the scripts I have read, that I really wanted the most. It was almost like such a great part that you don't even have to act to look great on film. Two years later, I got a call from my agent that the movie was on again and that Barbet wanted me and that was that."

Furlong, who shuns acting classes, knew that playing a character who "changes in every scene -- every one of which is dramatic," would make for a grueling four-month shoot. "I figured it would be tiring," he explains, "and it was, but what a roller coaster ride." As of today, he has only seen Before and After in rough cut, but he declares the movie "awesome." Given the talent involved, it surely has, at least on paper, more than a shot at living up to its prerelease hype. About some reshoots that took Furlong back to New York far a week last fall, the actor says, "I can't tell you about what we shot because it would give away the story, but the stuff actually turned out better than what we originally shot."

So things are looking up, career-wise? Furlong concedes, "It's looking good. For a little bit there, it was slowing down." Which explains, maybe, Furlong's dip into lame-o horror and sci-fi, with Brainscan. And we will soon see whether the screen version of Truman Capote's marvelous story The Grass Harp, a period ensemble piece with a cast that includes Piper Laurie and Walter Matthau, falls into the category of dubious items on Furlong's résumé. Matthau's son, Charles, who directed the show, was nearly booted off the film by the studio executives early in production. "Definitely a troubled shoot," Furlong admits. "I'm kind of judgmental because I read the book and that was so beautifully written, I really don't know too much about the trouble, except that the director wasn't really getting along with the studio. They just didn't click. It was a weird shoot." And with that, Furlong shrugs and makes his face a mask that seals over the subject.

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